Thursday, 28 June

GP: And, these are my fish. My roommate keeps trying to overfeed them because he thinks they’re starving.

Me: Do they have names?

GP: Yeah, the gold fish are called X-45 and 3PO.

Me: Ah.

GP: Do you know what the red one is?

Me: He’s one of those fighters that will eat up the gold fish, I imagine?!

GP: Yup. Betta fish. Isn’t he beautiful?

Me: Yes.. quite incredible.

GP: You know, I didnt buy him from a shop.

Me: Oh?

GP: My sister and I had driven down to the trash dump a few minutes from here. This was the day I was leaving for India last month.

Me: Okay?

GP: I had stepped out of the car to dump our trash and was walking back when my sister got out and said she had seen something move under one of the boxes. I figured it was a rat or something. But she insisted on checking it out.

So we walked towards the box and right next to it, we find this little plastic container filled with a thick reddish liquid. And there was something moving around in it. A near-dead Betta fish, swimming around desperately in water sullied by his own excreta. Looked like he hadn’t been fed in weeks and the water hadn’t been changed in years.

We brought the container home, cleaned up his water and voila - the fiery, valiant Betta, unfazed by his ordeals, just swimming around and looking at us curiously.

Me: Wow… that is some story!

GP: There’s more. You can’t feed a Betta regular fish food. It’s not enough. They’re used to eating other fish, so they need something a lot more nutritious.

Me: Okay?

GP: Nearly 6 months ago, I had stepped into a store to buy food for the gold fish. I was running late for class, so I picked up the first bottle I found and then when I came home, I realized that it was meant for Betta fish. So my roommate picked up a bottle of regular food. I had been meaning to return the Betta fish food for 6 months but it kept slipping my mind. So when we cleaned this guy’s water and realized he was a Betta fish, I knew exactly what I could feed him!

Me: I don’t know what to say. Makes you wonder, huh?

GP: Tell me about it.

Me: So what’s his name?

GP: I haven’t been able to think of one that’s fitting yet.

Me: I think it ought to be Wale.

GP: Hm, well sure, why not.

Wednesday, 27 June

Cabbie: ‘Morning Miss, how are you today?

Me: I’m good, thanks. How are you?

Cabbie: I’m good, I’m good.. where are we going today?

Me: West Nursery, 312

Cabbie: That’s just down the road from here!

Me: Yes, it is, but it’s too far to walk!

Cabbie: Ah, so you’re the Indian girl they told me about!

Me: Who?!

Cabbie: The other cab drivers. My friend Ray is a fan!

Me: Ray’s a sweet guy. Are you from Trinidad too?

Cabbie: No, no, I’m from Nigeria.

Me: Ah, ok. You visit often?

Cabbie: No, it’s been 6 years…

Me: Will you go back soon?

Cabbie: I hope so.. maybe go home for a bit in December this year… but I don’t know. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t.

Me: Where are you from in Nigeria? Lagos?

Cabbie: You been?!

Me: No, my cousins lived in Lagos for a bit.

Cabbie: Wow! It’s a small world eh?

Me: It is, if you know my cousins!

Cabbie: You know, I have cousins in Lagos too!

Me: You don’t say! What’s your name?

Cabbie: Wa-lay.

Me: W-a-l-a-y?

Cabbie: No, W-a-l-e, Wa-lay.

Me: That’s a nice name, what does it mean?

Cabbie: Oh, you would not believe me!

Me: Why not? What does it mean?!

Cabbie: In the dialect I speak, Wale means “No matter where you go, remember to come back home.”